nt accurately points out, tax payers opting for accounting software over actual accounting professionals “has hardly put Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) and other personal tax preparers out of business.” It’s not as if accounting firms don’t use accounting software themselves. A good answer to the question is that it all depends on your financial needs.

This begs the question when is an accountant a good idea? Well, if you’re a small business owner, still in the start-up phase, deciding whether or not to do your finances yourself, take a look at the following article, Do I Need an Accountant?

The article points out that as a small business owner, you’re already a wea

rer of many hats so taking on more responsibilities as a bookkeeper/ac

countant certainly isn’t going to make things easier for you and your lack of expertis

e may wind up losing you money.

The article boils it down to the basic considerations of time, money and knowledge. If you have the time, do you have the money? Have the money? What about time? Also, do you really understand how to do basic bookkeeping? Basically, pick two. Chances are you’re not going to have all 3 going for you at once. If you do, you’re probably an accountant. The key thing about hiring an accountant regardless of the services you are hiring them for is that accountants really know how to use all of the financial tools available to them to get the best results for you.

Of course, there is a solid middle ground between choosing an accountant and choosing to rely on accounting software. Hire an accountant to teach you Quickbooks. This is a service we offer at Huddleston Tax CPAs. Click this link to find out more about our Quickbooks services. We look forward to hearing from you at (425) 483-6600.